University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
South Alabama
Cajuns Reach Sun Belt Championship Game
5/25/2007 5:00:00 AM | Baseball
Solich (5-1) needed just 92 pitches to dispose of the eighth seeded Jaguars. He retired nineteen in a row at one stretch between the first and seventh innings. The complete game shutout was the first for the Cajuns since Buddy Glass turned the trick against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on April 8 of last year.
“That was the Solich we signed,” Cajuns Coach Tony Robichaux said afterwards. “We've been waiting for that all year. He did a really good job of working off his fastball and finishing them with his splitter or breaker.”
The Cajuns (43-14) got all the runs that Solich would need in the first inning, when Josh Logan singled and was sacrificed to second by Devon Bourque. Jonathan Lucroy then tripled to right center to give the Cajuns the 1-0 lead. The triple by Lucroy set a new school record for total bases with 402, breaking the previous record set by Ron Robicheaux (1983-86) and Damian Grossie (1988-91). After Jefferies Tatford walked, Matt Casbon knocked in a run with a fielder's choice to make it 2-0. After Nolan Gisclair walked, Scott Hawkins singled off starter David Doss (0-1) to score Casbon with the third run of the inning.
The Cajuns made it 4-0 in the third when Casbon doubled and scored when Jags shortstop Bunky Kaeton threw away Gisclair's grounder.
Solich allowed a one-out single in the first to left fielder Clint Toomey and then shut down South Alabama (31-26) until hitting Jeff Cunningham with a pitch with two out in the seventh. Joel Collins followed with a single to put runners at first and second, but Solich got Ryne Jernigan to fly to Gisclair in right to end the Jaguars' lone threat of the game. Doss doubled with two out in the ninth for the Jags' only other base runner.
Solich got two strikeouts each in the second and third and struck out the side in the eighth. He also had eleven ground ball outs to go with his eleven strikeouts. “He was just zeroed in tonight,” said Solich's catcher Jonathan Lucroy. “He was ready physically, mentally and emotionally. We all knew how big this game was.”
Lucroy had two hits along with Matt Hicks, Casbon and Hawkins to pace the Cajuns 11-hit attack.
The Cajuns victory brings them one step closer to their goal of hosting an NCAA Regional at M. L. “Tigue” Moore Field next week. Those regional sites will be announced this Sunday.
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